The present invention relates generally to microelectronic devices and fabrication methods therefor, and, more particularly, to light-emitting devices and fabrication methods therefor.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are widely used in consumer and commercial applications. As is well known to those skilled in the art, a light-emitting diode generally includes a diode region on a microelectronic substrate. The microelectronic substrate may comprise, for example, gallium arsenide, gallium phosphide, alloys thereof, silicon carbide, and/or sapphire. Continued developments in LEDs have resulted in highly efficient and mechanically robust light sources that can cover the visible spectrum and beyond. These attributes, coupled with the potentially long service life of solid state devices, may enable a variety of new display applications, and may place LEDs in a position to compete with well entrenched incandescent and fluorescent lamps.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a conventional GaN-based LED 100 comprises a substrate 105, such as sapphire (Al2O3) or SiC, that has first and second opposing surfaces 110a and 10b, respectively, and may be at least partially transparent to optical radiation. A diode region, comprising an n-type layer 115 and a p-type layer 120 is disposed on the second surface 110b and is configured to emit optical radiation upon application of a voltage across the diode region, for example across ohmic contacts 130 and 135.
The diode region including the n-type layer 115 and/or the p-type layer 125 may comprise gallium nitride-based semiconductor layers, including alloys thereof, such as indium gallium nitride and/or aluminum indium gallium nitride. The fabrication of gallium nitride on SiC is known to those skilled in the art, and is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,688, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. It will also be understood that a buffer layer or layers comprising aluminum nitride, for example, may be provided between the n-type gallium nitride layer 115 and the substrate 105, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,393,993, 5,523,589, 6,177,688, and application Ser. No. 09/154,363 entitled Vertical Geometry InGaN Light Emitting Diode, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. The n-type gallium nitride layer 115 may comprise silicon-doped gallium nitride, while the p-type gallium nitride layer 120 may comprise magnesium-doped gallium nitride.
In some LEDs, the ohmic contact 135 for the p-type gallium nitride layer 120 comprises platinum, nickel and/or titanium/gold. In other LEDs, a reflective ohmic contact comprising, for example, aluminum and/or silver, may be used. The ohmic contact 130 to the n-type gallium nitride layer 115 may comprise aluminum and/or titanium. Other suitable materials that form ohmic contacts to p-type gallium nitride and n-type gallium nitride may be used for ohmic contacts 135 and 130, respectively.
Examples of ohmic contacts to n-type gallium nitride layers and p-type gallium nitride layers are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,581, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Unfortunately, LED devices that have coplanar electrical contacts on the active side (i.e., the diode region side) may use thicker diode regions than other vertical designed LEDs to reduce current crowding (i.e., forcing electrons to make sharp turns).